£585k Bovis Home in Northamptonshire Must Be Demolished After Six Years

A Northamptonshire woman who purchased what she believed would be her "dream forever home" is now facing the devastating reality that her £585,000 new-build property must be completely demolished, according to a report published in The i Paper on 11th October 2025.

Jules White, 51, bought the five-bedroomed detached house in Silverstone from Bovis Homes (now part of the Vistry Group) in June 2019, expecting to blend her family with her then-partner's. Instead, the property's severe structural failures have destroyed her relationship, damaged her health, and left her life savings tied up in an unsellable home.

The problems began before Ms White even moved in. During a pre-completion visit after exchanging contracts, her former partner noticed something amiss. "This mortar looks a bit sandy," he observed whilst inspecting the garage. The salesman's response was reassuring but ultimately empty, according to Ms White's account in The i Paper: "Don't worry about that. I've made a note and we'll fix that before you move in."

That initial concern proved to be the tip of an enormous iceberg. Six years later, Ms White finds herself living in a property that a structural engineer has concluded must be demolished down to the foundations.

A Catalogue of Catastrophic Defects

The list of defects discovered in Ms White's home reads like a worst-case scenario for any new-build purchaser. After numerous intrusive investigations and tests commissioned by Bovis Homes, a structural engineer reached a damning conclusion: the roof does not meet building regulations, and the entire house, save for the foundations, needs to be demolished and rebuilt.

Ms White told The i Paper: "The structural engineer highlighted that the entire house needs to be demolished down to the foundations because that is the only thing about the house that is solid. The whole thing needs demolishing and rebuilding."

The catalogue of issues includes failed mortar in both external and internal skims containing lime, major cracks running down all four corners of the internal walls due to improper roof construction, and a complete absence of drainage causing the garden to resemble a swamp continuously. Bovis's solution to the drainage problem, according to Ms White, was to dump two tonnes of sand onto the garden and lay down green chicken wire as a temporary fix. Six years later, her garden remains full of sand and chicken wire.

The investigative work required to identify these problems has left the property looking like a construction site. Ms White described how the property underwent six trial pits around its perimeter, including the destruction of tarmac to test below the damp-proofing, 84 internal holes where walls were tested, and so many external mortar samples that it "looks like Swiss cheese and if a mouse has been eating it."

The Human Cost

Beyond the structural failures, the emotional and physical toll on Ms White has been severe. The stress of dealing with the defective property contributed to the breakdown of her six-year relationship. "We had been together for six years and bought the house together, as it was a beautiful house, and we thought it would be our dream home," she explained to The i Paper. "But it turned into a nightmare."

Even though her former partner has moved out, both remain joint owners, unable to sell a property plagued by such serious defects. All of Ms White's life savings remain tied up in the house, with no clear resolution in sight.

The health impacts have been particularly troubling. Ms White revealed that the stress caused such severe sleep disruption that during one week, from Monday to Thursday, she managed only five-and-a-half hours of sleep in total. "I could not silence my brain," she said. The situation became so serious that she required 12 weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy to relearn how to sleep.

Six years after moving in, Ms White has decorated only one wall in her home. The others remain plain white because, as she notes, there is no point decorating when so much remedial work is required, or when the entire structure needs demolishing. She continues to live there with her 11-year-old daughter and two dogs, in a house where her bedroom has a floor-to-ceiling crack "so big, you can probably put your fingers in it," and where water seepage has ruined the kitchen flooring, which has been "up and loose for the last five-and-a-half years."

Adding insult to injury, Ms White's house insurers have now declined to provide cover for both buildings and contents insurance due to the poor quality of the build, leaving her in an even more precarious position.

Industry Failings Exposed

Ms White's case, which forms part of The i Paper's "New-build Nightmares" series, raises serious questions about building standards and oversight at a time when the Government has set a target of building 1.5 million homes by the next election.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, which champions the interests of homeowners, provided a scathing assessment to The i Paper: "No one should buy their dream home only to be told it needs to be demolished. The fact that serious defects like this slip through shows building control is failing consumers. Why weren't these problems caught before Jules moved in?"

Ms Higgins continued: "Until we have tougher standards, real accountability and a system that protects buyers, ordinary families will continue to pay the price for the industry's failings."

Developer Response

A spokesperson for Vistry, which has been the parent company of Bovis Homes since 2020, responded to The i Paper's enquiries by emphasising the company's commitment to customer satisfaction and its five-star rating from the Home Builders Federation. The spokesperson stated: "While instances where our homes do not meet expectations are rare, we treat such matters with the utmost seriousness. We engage transparently and constructively with homeowners to ensure that all genuine concerns are addressed and resolved in a timely and thorough manner."

The statement added: "In this particular case, we continue to work closely with the owners of the home in question to reach a satisfactory resolution, and we remain fully committed to upholding the standards of care and accountability that our customers rightly expect."

However, for Ms White, who has spent hundreds if not thousands of hours dealing with the issues and sending countless emails over six years, the resolution remains frustratingly out of reach. Fortunately, she had home insurance with legal cover, which has enabled her to continue battling for an outcome, though the years of chasing and delays have taken their toll.

Lessons for New-Build Buyers

Ms White's experience serves as a stark warning for anyone purchasing a new-build property. What appeared to be a minor concern about "sandy mortar" before completion proved to be symptomatic of fundamental construction failures that have rendered the entire property uninhabitable in the long term.

This case underscores the critical importance of thorough snagging inspections, and the value of professional oversight during the purchase of new-build homes. Whilst not all new-builds suffer from such catastrophic defects, Ms White's story demonstrates what can happen when building standards are not properly maintained and when warning signs are dismissed or inadequately addressed.

For new-build purchasers, the message is clear: be vigilant, document everything, don't be fobbed off by reassurances without action, and consider professional snagging inspections. As Ms White's six-year ordeal demonstrates, the cost of missing critical defects at the outset can be measured not just in financial terms, but in relationships, health, and years of stress.

If you're concerned about the quality of your new-build home, Snagging.org offers comprehensive snagging checklists, professional inspection services, and expert support to help you identify defects before they become catastrophic problems. Don't let your dream home turn into a nightmare.